Basket liner



mm 6, 1935. 'l T; R. MCDONALD 2,022,601

BASKET LINER Original Filed April 10, 1935 [N VEN TOR.

[Do man),

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov. 26, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE to McDonald Liner,

Inc., Columbus, Ohio Application April 10, 1933, Serial No. 665,449Renewed September 9, 1935 4 Claims.

This invention relates to liners of the type used when packing fruit,vegetables and the like in containers such as a bushel basket in orderto prevent the fruit from becoming bruised or otherwise marred bycontact with sides of the basket and one object of the invention is toprovide a liner formed from a single sheet of tough paper which willconform substantially to the inside diameter of the basket and when inuse have its end portions firmly secured in overlapped relation to eachother to prevent any danger of the end portions slipping out of theirproper positions and permitting contact of the fruit with walls of thebasket.

Another object of the invention is to provide end portions of the stripwith improved joints of such construction that while the strips will beinitially flat, they can be quickly united to form a frusto-conicalliner which will not only retain 20 its shape during use but also when aform is removed to permit a basket to be set in place.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the characterwhich is simple in contruction, inexpensive to manufacture and veryeffective when in use.

With these and numerous other objects in view, my invention consists inthe novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of partsas will be hereinafter referred to and more particularly pointed out inthe specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application:

Figure 1 is a view of a blank from which a liner of the improvedconstruction is formed;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a liner formed from the blank or stripshown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken vertically through Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view of a modified form of blank or strip;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a liner formed from the blank shown inFigure 4;

Figure 6 is a sectional View taken vertically through Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective View illustrating the manner inwhich the tongues of the blank are folded in order to pass them throughthe slots in the other end portion of the blank;

Figure 8 is a View of another modified form of blank;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a liner formed from the blank shown inFigure 8;

Figure 10 is a sectional view taken through the liner illustrated inFigure 9;

Figure 11 is a view of a blank having another modified construction;

Figure 12 is a perspective view of a liner formed 5 from the blank shownin Figure 11; and

Figure 13 is a sectional view taken vertically through Figure 12.

A liner constructed in accordance with this invention is employed whenpacking fruit which 10 is liable to be very easily bruised or have itsskin torn by contact with rough walls of a basket formed of thin woodenstrips and known as splint baskets. These liners are placed Within ashaper which is set upon a base and after a layer of fruit 1 known as atop layer has been set in place upon the base and the shaper then filledwith other fruit, the shaper is removed and a basket then set in place.It is important that end portions of the liner be firmly united in orderto prevent 20 separation thereof when the shaper is removed and a basketset in place and it is also important that end portions of the liner beretained in overlapped relation to each other after a basket has beenturned to an upright position and a cover applied. As the fruit iseasily bruised and if end portions should separate, a portion of thefruit could contact with the rough walls of the basket and becomebruised or skin of the fruit torn.

In accordance with this invention, the liner is formed from a blank cutfrom tough paper and end portions of the blank are so united that theywill be firmly held during removal of a shaper and application of abasket and also prevented from being forced apart by the weight of fruitin a basket turned to an upright position.

Several embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing and each has a blank or sheet I which is arcuate longitudinallyand has curved longitudinal edges and straight cut end edges convergingin one direction. In the specific embodiment illustrated in Figures 1, 2and 3, one end portion 2 of the blank is cut from its inner or lowerside edge to form a slit 3 extending transversely of the blank and inspaced relation to its upper or outer arcuate side edge there has beenformed a slot 4 extending transversely of the blank in alignment withthe slit 3. The other end portion 5 of the blank is cut from its endedge to form tongues 6 having upwardly extending bills I and also formother tongues 8. The tongues 6 are passed inwardly through the slit 3and slot 4 when end portions of the blank are overlapped to form a liner9 which been passed inwardly, the end portions of the blank are shiftedtransversely a sufficient distance todispose the side edges in registrywith each other and the bills I will then engage the inner face of theoverlapped end portion above the slit and slot. Therefore, the billswill serve to prevent the end portions from moving longitudinally ofeach other and end portions of the liner will be prevented fromseparating. It will thus be seen that there will be no danger of end po.tions of the liner sliding out of place between fruit and walls of abasket and the fruit cannot become bruised or skin of the fruit torn.

A liner formed in accordance with the disclosure of Figures 4, 5, 6 and7 has one end IQ of its blank formed with slots l 6 extendingtransversely of the liner in spaced relation to each other. The'otherend portion of the blank or sheet is cut from its side and end edge toform a pair of tongues 52 which are T-shaped and extend longitudinallyoi the blank with their side arms or bills is projecting upwardly anddownwardly transversely of the blank. The side arms or bills is formfree end portions of the tongues with cross heads, each of which is ofgreater width than the length of the slot ll and, therefore, in order topass the tongues through the slots after end portions of a blank havebeen overlapped te form a liner M, the bills must be folded towards eachother as shown in Figure 7. When so folded, the tongues may be passedinwardly through the slots and the bills then flattened so that theybear against the inner face of the end portion iii of the liner aboveand below the slot. When in this position, the bills will prevent thetongues from sliding outwardly through the slots and the end portions ofthe liner will be firmly held overlapped. Therefore, they cannotseparate and permit fruit in a basket to contact with the rough sidewalls of the basket.

The liner l shown in Figures 9 and 10 and formed from the blankillustrated in Figure 8 has one end of its blank cut to provide slots I6arranged in groups of 2 and the slots of each group are in suchproximity to each other thatv they define bands ll extendinglongitudinally of the blank in spaced relation to each othertransversely thereof. other end portion of the blank or sheet of toughpaper is out to form tongues 53 extending transversely of the blank inalignment, one above another, and these tongues face downwardly andtaper towards their lower free ends. By this arrangement, the tonguesmay be threaded through the slots 55 and' as each tongue is first passedinwardly through a slot and then outwardly through a companion slot, theband Ii defined by these slots will extend across the basket as clearlyshown in Figure 9 andfrictional gripping will take place which willveryeffectively prevent the tongues from sliding upwardly from beneath theband. Therefore, the end portions of the liner will be firmly held inoverlapping relation to each other and they cannot accidentally slideapart and expose portions of a wall of a basket. It will thus be seenthat all of the fruit in the basket will be prevented from contactingwith walls of the basket and becoming bruised or skin of the fruit torn.

The blank illustrated in Figure 11 and from which the liner shown inFigures 12 and 13 and indicated by'the numeral lQ is formed, has one endportion cut to provide aligned slots 2| spaced from each other andextending transversely of the blank. The other end portion of the blankis cut to form tongues 22 and referring to Figures 11 and 13 it will beseen that these 5 tongues project diagonally from the body portion ofthe blank and each is provided with a depending bill 23. By thisarrangement, the tongues may be slid through the slots 2| in the endportion 20 of the blank when the end portions are l0 overlapped to formthe liner and after the tongues have been passed through the slots, endportions of the strips may be moved transversely of each other to. bringthe bills into interlocking engagementwith the strip below the lower endl5 of the slot. Therefore, end portions of the blank will be retained inoverlapped engagement with each other and strain exerted longitudinallyof the blank or in other words circumferentially of the liner, will notcause the tongues to slip out- 20 simple, inexpensive and efiicientmeans for carrying out the objects of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: r V 1. A linerfor use in packing fruit and the like comprising a strip of materialbent to dispose its end portions in overlapped relation to each otherand form an open ended liner of a diameter to fit within a basket inclose proximity to walls thereof, one end portion of said strip beingformed with a slot extending transversely of the 4Q strip adjacent theupper longitudinal edge thereof and a slit being formed in the said endportion of the strip and leading from the lower edge of the strip inalignment withthe slot, the other end portion of said strip being cuttoform tongues extending longitudinally of the strip for engagementthrough the slot and slit and having upwardly extending bills to engagethe strip and prevent movement of the tongues longitudinally of thestrip out of'the slot and slit. 50.

2. A liner for use in packing fruit and the like comprising a strip ofmaterial bent to dispose its end portions in overlapped relation to eachother and form an open ended liner of a diameter to fit' within a basketin close proximity to walls thereof, one end portion of said strip beingformed with a slit leading from a longitudinal edge of the strip and aslot spaced from the slit transversely of the strip, the other end ofsaid strip beingcut to form tongues engaged through the slit and slotand having bills engaging the strip 'to prevent the tongues fromslipping out of the slit and slot. V

3. A liner for use in packing fruit and the like comprising a strip ofmaterial bent to dispose its end portions in overlapped relation to eachother and iorm'an open ended liner of a diameter to fit within a basketin close proximity to walls thereof, one end portion of said strip.being formed with a slit leading from. a longitudinal edge of the stripand in spaced relation to the slit trans- .versely of the strip beingformed with a slot aligned with the slit; the other end of the stripbeing cut to form tongues terminating at the end of thestrip and engagedthrough the slot 1;

and slit toretain the end portions overlapped, said tongues havingtransversely extending bills to engage the strip and prevent accidentalretrograde movement of the tongues.

4. A liner for use in packing fruit and the like comprising a strip ofmaterial bent to dispose its end portions in overlapped relation to eachother and form an open ended liner of a diameter to fit within a basketin close proximity to walls thereof, one end portion of said strip beingformed with a slit leading from the lower longitudinal edge of the stripand in spaced relation to the slit transversely of the strip beingformed with a slot aligned with the slit, the other end of the stripbeing out to form tongues terminating at the end of the strip and havingupwardly extending bills, the tongues being passed through the slot andslit and bearing against one face of the strip and the other face of thestrip being engaged by portions of the strip from which the tongues arecut.

THOMAS R, MCDONALD.

